


I Thought You Were The One

by huntersociopathavenger



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-12-06 21:11:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18225485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/huntersociopathavenger/pseuds/huntersociopathavenger
Summary: Tony Stark. The name of the most feared mobster in all of New York. The name that parents would take to terrify their children in to doing what they were told. The name that would send the most fearless man running in terror. The name that by the time this story is over, won’t even be worth a penny.





	1. Anhedonia

Anhedonia- The loss of interest and enjoyment in all activities that you once liked; the feeling of not caring anymore

Tony stood in the center of the corner cafe that never seemed unordinary. It had started the morning mundane, a steady flow of customers streaming in for their morning coffee, not enough for the place to be considered popular, but just enough to pay the bills. Except it wasn’t enough to pay Stane’s debts.  
The once pleasant ambiance was destroyed, several chairs knocked over, scuff marks all over the floor, booths on their bellies, and as the cherry on top of a bloodbath sundae, bodies strewn haphazardly throughout the room, their owners last pleads for mercy permanently plastered on their faces.  
Once, such a scene would’ve made Tony feel something, anything, but now it meant absolutely nothing to him. Another day, another guy who couldn’t pay what he owed. The same routine over, and over. Tony used to feel sympathetic to his debtors’ plights, but now it all just seemed futile. If they missed one payment, they’d miss the next. No point in giving them a second chance.  
“You want us to clean this dumpster, boss?”  
“As usual, Colonel. You know the drill.”  
“You ever think about getting a girlfriend, boss?” Tony grimaced. Rhodey had been pestering him to get a girlfriend ever since the love of his life had died. The memory of Pepper was still so fresh in his mind that he could still feel her sometimes. Her presence would hit him out of nowhere, and it made him wonder if life was truly over after death. Luckily for him, no one else from his tainted past had ever come back to haunt him.  
“You know I haven’t, Rhodes,” he quipped, throwing up the facade of the most feared mobster in New York.  
“I think it’d do you some good; I hate the thought of you prattling around that big, old mansion all by yourself. At least with a girlfriend, you won’t be lonely.” Rhodey clapped Tony on the back and walked past him to hoist one of the many fallen corpses onto his shoulders. Before walking away to do his job, he stopped in front of his boss. “It’s been a decade since Pepper died. You’re not doing her any favors by being unhappy, and you know it.”  
Anyone else. Had anyone else dared to rack up the courage to ask him that, they would have been dead before the end of the sentence. But it was Rhodey, his best friend from childhood, the one person present for every up and down in his life. His right-hand man was his number one confidant- but only in his business. The one person that he could trust more than anything, and the one person he couldn’t trust at all- and he couldn’t care less. After all, they didn’t call him the “Iron Man” for nothing. He was cold, calculating, and ruthless. And he just couldn’t find it in himself to care.


	2. Koi No Yokan

Koi no yokan(Japanese): The extraordinary sense upon first meeting someone, that you will one day fall in love.

Tony leaned back into his chair and stretched. It had been a fairly slow day for Stark Industries and its countless side-businesses. It was like this most days; not as many people dared to mess with the guy who was rumoured to bite the heads of those who crossed him off, and not in the figurative way. Tony’d always wondered who had come up with that interesting myth. Just another thing to ponder as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

The weather outside didn’t help his boredom either. All he noticed about it was the bleak gray fog settling down on the traffic like a blanket of dread. Not good enough for rain, but Tony was high up enough that little droplets had formed on his window, fragmenting the world below him into pieces not nearly interesting enough to put together. New York- the city that teemed with life. No corner was occupied by just a single person, except for his little bubble. No one bothered to venture far enough inside, and why would they? Tony’d built a fortress around his corner, making it impenetrable. His reputation made him a god, a cruel, capricious god who was only to be worshipped, not loved. Only one person had ever taken the time to get to know the man underneath the beast.

Suddenly, the intercom buzzed, the piercing sound shaking Tony out from inside his head. “Yeah?”

“Boss, we’ve got someone who stole something from you. Would you like to see him or should I tell the War Machine to deal with him?”

“Send him up. I want to hear his story.” Not like Tony had anything better to do anyway.   
————————  
The shaking man was deposited on his knees in front of the emotionless king. That’s what Tony realized he was. A king with his cowering subject awaiting judgement in front of him. 

“Please sir,” he sobbed, “I did it for my only son.”

Tony laughed. Children. That was always their excuse. “What’s your name?”

“Joseph, Joseph Rogers, sir.”

“Tell me, what’d you take for your… son.” 

“A rose, from your garden,they’re my son’s favorite,” the man said, his voice gradually raising in volume, “but I swear on my boy’s life, I had no idea the flower was yours! I thought it was just city property, please sir, you have to believe me!” Tony was surprised. He thought the old man had stolen something valuable, like drugs   
from one of his posts. What he didn’t expect was the item stolen to be something so trivial as a rose. And so he gestured to Rhodey to follow him out of the room.

“He stole a rose? A rose? As in singular?” He pushed Rhodey up against the wall, seething. Wasted his precious time over a rose.

“Yeah, I know Tony, it sounds stupid, but remember a couple of years ago when you announced that anyone who stole from you, anyone, would suffer the consequences? And it’s too late to turn back now, everyone’s already seen this- we can’t let him go without seeming weak.” 

God, he hated when Rhodey was right. “Take him to my mansion and lock him up. Make sure he never sees the light of day. And get me the son too.” Maybe he’d order in some pizza when he went home. Yeah, pizza sounded good. Even a merciless king needed to eat.  
»»——⍟——««  
It was Steve’s 30th birthday and so far, not off to a great start. He’d been looking forward to seeing his dad soon, but it turned out that he was late- by 4 hours. Steve   
would’ve been worried, but this was a common experience. His deadbeat drunk of a dad was probably getting wasted at some random bar in New York- as per usual. 

As Steve was about to settle on the couch to channel surf with his beer and pizza in hand, he heard a rapid knocking at the door. It was probably Mrs. Carter downstairs asking him to stop being so loud. The crazy woman hated even the slightest sound that he made. 

He yanked the door open and was surprised to see a bunch of men in black suits and sunglasses standing around. The one in front looked down at the gun tucked into his waistband warning him to comply. Gangsters.

“Sir, we need you to come with us.” What had his dad gotten him into now?  
»»——⍟——««  
Tony ate his pizza into his mouth in a robotic way. Lift, put in mouth, chew. He couldn’t taste any of the flavors in his mouth. It was all bland in his mouth; like eating water. Eating wasn’t even the same anymore- he needed help. 

His phone rang, and he knew that Rhodey had done what he had told him to. “You got the boy?”

“Man, sir. He’s somewhere around his late thirties.” That old man must’ve been older than he looked then.

“Still living with his dad?” Tony wanted to get a feel for what this guy was like.

“Yeah. Dad’s an alcoholic- looks like he was there to take care of him.” Fathers. Nothing good ever came out of them.

“Hmm. A stealing alcoholic. What does the son look like?” Hopefully the son was a better person.

“Someone who’s trying to do his best in a bad situation.” Tony flash backed to his own childhood. It was a struggle shaking the past off of himself.

“I’ll see that for myself. How far are you?”

“15 minutes out.”

“Hurry. I want to see whether this son is worth all the trouble.”   
————————  
He didn’t look like much. A blonde, tall, and muscular guy. “You know why you’re here?”

A guy who looked down with a set jaw and back up with contempt in his eyes. “What’d my dad do this time?” Not contempt for him, but his father.

“He stole something from me. But let’s talk about you. What’s your name?”

“Steve.” As if an afterthought, he added, “Rogers.”

“Well, Steve, I’m willing to let your father go. He’s an old man, I don’t think he’d last long here.”

“Thank you, sir. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Rogers started to get up.

“But.” Steve sat back down. “In exchange for his freedom, I’ll need your service.” 

After a couple seconds of deliberation, he replied, “Fine. Just… let him go.” 

“So we have a deal?” They both rose and met hands like equals.

“It seems that we do.” And just like that, the smallest bit of color seeped back into Tony’s life.


End file.
